The present invention relates to an exterior mirror, such as a side view or rear view mirror, for a motor vehicle. The mirror includes a support or base that is adapted to be mounted on the vehicle, and a housing that accommodates a mirror body and is mounted on the support or base in such a way that it is pivotable to the front and to the rear relative to the longitudinal direction or forward direction of travel of the vehicle. The housing is pivotable against a return force or spring force in such a way that after a pivoting movement the housing returns to a normal position.
Such a mounting of the housing, along with the mirror body that is disposed therein, is advantageous from a safety standpoint; unfortunately, the heretofore known methods of mounting a housing for achieving the aforementioned effects are relatively complicated and expensive.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to be able, with straightforward technical means, to mount the mirror housing in such a way that the housing returns to its normal position even after the housing has carried out a large pivot movement.